Day 7 Dumfries – Ballocks (Balloch)

Obviously our thoughts are with Roger and his family, but the ride still goes on.

First full day north of the boarder and the sun is shining. After a later start than normal we got a message that we could drop in and see our colleague Simon Kerr, who invited us round for a cup of tea. Everyone arrived apart from him, he’d failed to tell us that he was at the office and his very hospitable partner was told that 7 complete strangers would be turning up on her doorstep.


Leanne was very welcoming and provided the riders and support crew with tea and supplies which was very much appreciated and a big thank you has to go to her and Simon, who didn’t turn up until later.

After meeting Leanne we headed to Abington Services to meet someone who spoke even more foreign than Dave: his brother John. If you thought that Dave is a bike beast then you haven’t met his brother. John took the cyclist on a short cut through the sleepy suburbs of Glasgow. James and Andy in the mean time got lost several times even with a sat nav.

During the trip around the backstreets of Glasgow, Zac thought it appropriate to say hello to a local of the area. The guy in the string vest holding a can of special brew did not quite understand this and thought Zac wanted a fight. I am sure the nice man was called Rab.

The pain is starting to show on the cyclists faces and that’s just the bits you can see! Carlos ‘Sastre’ Jones showed himself to be the true champion hill climber that he is with a welcome return to form after his ‘bad day’ yesterday! However, we are in Dave’s place now (Scotland) and he fully expects to have the Polka-Dot jersey stripped from his broken back in the next couple of days – unless Jim claims it first.

Over to Carl:

Zac ‘I don’t do the front of the group anymore’ Grief suffered some tyre beeding issues which caused a bigger bubble on his wheel that the Vasaline one on his cycling shorts which is created by a combination of too much application and farts which help keep the pack in a smelly state.

Dave ‘David’ Campbell was truly in good form today and even though he claims to not be suffering we all know different. I (Carl) don’t think that he’s gonna make it unless he can unload another night watchmen on Spency tonight to counter act the air biscuit which Spency dropped on us all at diner.

I must admit that there is a lot we don’t appreciate about the hidden talents of Lynsey O’Neil – such as booking us in to a night club to rest before tomorrows big day in the mountains – I’ll tell you it’s like Yate’s in here, mutants the lot they must spent all day lifting hay bales.

Over to Dave:






Today was all about Sun Scenery and Stinking smells from Andy Spences rear end!

Jones was on form, letting everyone do the work and then seeing the front on the last mile. As for his map reading… yes he got lost again at the end.

Lynsey has finally joined the ranks and decided to go native and frequently use the fields for wee stops. Picture to follow…

Back to James:

Finally I’m going to be shot of this lot no more searching bike shops for 700 -28C’s, if anyone has one spare please sent them to Zac as the appear to be as rare as rocking horse sh1t. Ken Blackley has joined the team as the support driver for the final stretch and I even foolishly admitted I might take a shot at next years expedition, if this one doesn’t break them all first.

Have a good weekend.

Stats:
- Punctures: 1 (tyre failure – Zac)
- Miles: 110
- Miles to go: 300 (ish)
- Wind: welcome tailwind
- Weather: Sunny blue skys
- Road quality: poor, high pothole count
- Views: superb (particularly Glasgow)
- Lunch: Junk food and long
- Drugs: anti-histamines (Lynsey), Ibuprofen (Lynsey), Van (Spency)
- Special creams: Lip balm (Lynsey), double dips (Daves bro – but he didn’t know until after), Suncream (everyone)
- Jokes: Carl Jones stories about his ‘mate’ Gibbo
- Lost Teddies: 1 (Carl after Jim rinsed him on the last climb of the day)
- Jim getting popular with 16 year old Scottish girls!

Eatchy bike watch

We would also like to thank the Cycle Centre in Dumfries for their help and discount in getting a few bits for the team. www.cycle-centre.com